Necromancy has led many characters in Dungeons and Dragons lore down darkish paths, with sure artifacts of that college of magic ceaselessly facilitating that descent. The Hand and Eye of Vecna are infamous corrupted items of the god Vecna, whose powers over loss of life permit the ones pieces to deprave whoever they arrive into touch with. Then again, regardless of the ability of Vecna’s stays, any other instrument holds an excellent higher energy over undeath.
Undead creatures are certainly a few of D&D‘s maximum terrifying monsters, however the necromancers who create them are simply as horrifying. A necromancer may also be plenty of figures, from a human mage became lich to an unholy demon who has wielded evil magic for his or her complete lifestyles. Artifacts that assist channel necromancy for those spellcasters are extraordinarily bad, conserving an influence coveted through simplest the worst of the worst.
The Demon Prince’s Weapon Holds Absolute Dominion Over Undead
Arguably the most powerful necromancy artifact in D&D is the Wand of Orcus, a mystical mace wielded through a prince of the Abyss. Orcus is a Demon Prince, probably the most most powerful of demonkind whose thirst for chaos and violence manifests into energy over the undead. Orcus wants not anything greater than all the annihilation of all existence within the Subject matter Airplane, turning all natural creatures into undead to do his bidding.
The Wand of Orcus acts as a weapon, spellcasting center of attention, and magic merchandise that may forged necromancy magic at will. Very similar to the Hand and Eye of Vecna, the Wand is imbued with fees that may be spent on casting one of the crucial most powerful spells in D&D. Circle of Demise, Animate Useless, Finger of Demise, Blight, or even the notorious Energy Phrase Kill are all to be had to wielders of the Wand, spreading loss of life at an unheard of tempo.
The one strategy to smash the Wand of Orcus is to resurrect the hero whose cranium sits fastened in it, then have that hero move to the Certain Power Airplane. Since Orcus assists in keeping that hero’s soul underneath lock and key, you most probably may not see the Wand destroyed any time quickly.
As for its look, the Wand of Orcus is a rod of steel with a cranium atop it, the final heirloom of an historic hero who as soon as attempted to slay the Demon Prince. The Wand offers prime quantities of necrotic harm when used as a melee weapon, however its major draw comes from the natural necromancy magic that flows thru it. The Wand has a couple of homes to it, together with a +3 buff to a personality’s AC in the event that they arrange to equip it.
In contrast to Vecna’s Hand or Eye, the Wand of Orcus is designed round necromancy on my own, somewhat than domination or clairvoyance. The Wand has handed into the fingers of necromancers up to now, as Orcus is amused through how mortals have a tendency to make use of it to perform heinous objectives. Each and every time dangers a determine with absolute dominance over the undead, somewhat than a mastery of extra basic magic.
Orcus’ Artifact Comes With An Evil Intelligence
Merciless Sentience Most effective Obeys One True Grasp
Regardless of who manages to wield the Wand in Orcus’ desire, the weapon all the time stays unswerving to its Prince. The Wand of Orcus is totally sentient, possessing an Intelligence, Knowledge, and Aura skill ranking on every occasion it’s encountered in a atmosphere for a D&D sport. Any creature who tries to attune to the Wand who is not Orcus feels the total wrath of the weapon, loss of life straight away in the event that they fail a Knowledge saving throw and emerging as a zombie in a while.
The Wand can discuss to its wielder, only if Orcus approves of them the use of it within the first position. As a chaotic evil entity, the Wand has a merciless, chilly intelligence that simplest wants all the destruction of existence like its grasp. As a being that may perceive the Commonplace language and the demonic Abyssal tongue, it will possibly unfold its nihilistic ideals to whoever is available in touch with it.
I have discovered that some of the attention-grabbing parts of the Wand is how it intentionally tries to feign devotion to whoever wields it. It makes nice guarantees to any individual who tries to make use of it, stocking their ego and promising delusions of grandeur that it has no aim of pleasurable. It’s going to even vow to assist any individual overthrow Orcus, till it inevitably betrays them after all to go back to the fingers of the Demon Prince as soon as once more.
Any person Wielding The Demon Prince’s Weapon Good points An Undead Military
The Wand Summons The Useless On A Large Scale
What in point of fact separates the Wand of Orcus from the Hand of Vecna is the sheer scale of necromancy it will possibly unharness. Whoever wields the Wand of Orcus can use the facility Name Useless to summon an undead military of zombies and skeletons equivalent to 500 Hit Issues, with each and every emerging from the bottom in one motion. In contrast to Animate Useless, the place it’s a must to forged the spell again and again to get a gaggle of undead, this provides you with an enormous staff of unswerving corpses without delay.
When Orcus wields the Wand, the undead he summons may also be of any kind, no longer simply restricted to zombies and skeletons. Moreover, they don’t disappear till Orcus instructions them to.
This military lasts for a whole day, with out the wielder ever having to brush aside them till that point runs out. Developing an undead military in one motion is a necromancer’s dream, and one thing I desperately want my very own Necromancer Wizard persona may just do. Then again, gaining this energy will most probably rob that persona in their freedom, as simplest the ones keen to unfold Orcus’ damaging wants will ever get the risk to wield the weapon.
The temptation of such energy, although, is what makes magic pieces in D&D so attention-grabbing every so often. As a mythical merchandise, the Wand of Orcus hardly leaves its grasp’s facet, however that does not imply it by no means will all the way through the process your sport. Like any corrupted artifacts, the Wand generally is a instrument for excellent persona construction, whether or not that be an ordeal of resistance in opposition to energy or a gloomy fall of an in a different way noble soul.
With out a lot preliminary passion within the Demon Princes because of their easy, chaotic nature, I failed to note this artifact compared to the shady dealings of devils as a substitute. With everybody the use of the Hand or Eye of Vecna of their Dungeons and Dragons video games, the Wand of Orcus may well be the following one to incorporate for its presence as most probably the most powerful necromancy artifact within the sport.
- Unique Unencumber Date
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1974
- Writer
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TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast
- Dressmaker
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Participant Rely
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2-7 Gamers
